Pitiful loss to Carolina Panthers shows New York Giants' Super Bowl run in 2007 was a fluke

Mario Manningham fumbles on first drive of game, and things get worse from there for Giants Sunday in rout by Panthers. (Jacobson/AP)

Lawrence Taylor was part of the halftime ceremonies for the Giants' last game at Giants Stadium Sunday, and then he left, so at least his last memory of the place was a good one.

And with the Giants already down by 24, a lot of the Giants' fans followed the Hall of Famer out. Those who stayed bore witness to one of the worst defeats Big Blue ever suffered at the stadium, a 41-9 pounding by the Panthers that slammed the door shut on the Giants' playoff hopes.

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Harry Carson, LT's former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer, stuck it out with the diehards. And the man who, along with Jim Burt, helped pioneer the Gatorade bath, wasn't about to shower the current Giants with praise after their collapse from a 5-0 start to this season.

"I'm not saying that they don't have pride, but I don't see where the pride is coming from," Carson said. "Wellington Mara always said, 'Once a Giant, always a Giant.' And guys who have played here have a certain sense of pride that we have to adhere to. I don't necessarily see that same pride amongst the guys who are here now."

Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart looked like the second coming of Jim Brown as he ripped through the Giants' defense for 206 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. It was the first time the Giants had allowed a 200-yard rusher at Giants Stadium, and the first time they had given up 200 to any running back since the Bills' Terry Miller ran for 208 and two scores in a 41-17 rout in 1978. Panthers quarterback Matt Moore, in for the injured Jake Delhomme, completed 15 of 20 passes for 171 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I'm not sure if it was tackling or just the attitude," said Carolina linebacker Na'il Diggs. "Maybe they got a little complacent with the win last week in Washington. Who knows? But it comes down to tackling and getting turnovers on the defense. Fundamental football is what games come down to."

When you get down to it, football is basically blocking and tackling. The Giants could do neither yesterday.

"We have one more game to go and we have to regain some kind of respect for the way the game is to be played," Tom Coughlin said. "We have a week to get that accomplished."

As they were packing up to leave Giants Stadium for the last time, the Big Blue players were like the zombies in "Night of the Living Dead" as far as their playoff hopes were concerned. Still walking around, at least before the Cowboys shut out the Redskins last night, but without any real signs of life.

You can pick your adjective for how awful the Giants were, particularly considering what was at stake and the fact that they were closing out Giants Stadium. Pathetic, sickening, disgusting, dreadful were a few that came to mind. But as they were flopping around on the field trying to score and trying to stop Carolina from scoring, mainly it showed a lack of heart by a team that just two years ago went on a fantastic late-season run to win the Super Bowl.

You can now officially declare that a fluke. It also is the clearest indication yet in this roller-coaster season that the players aren't listening to Coughlin and aren't playing hard for him anymore.

Because of the up and down nature of the team this year, Coughlin was asked whether he has trouble reading it.

"I'm not going to answer that one," Coughlin said.

Coughlin said he showed his players a graph on Saturday pointing out a tendency to play poorly after a good performance.

They were coming off a brilliant game against the Redskins on Monday night where they put all three phases together and pounded Washington, sparking so much enthusiasm and renewed vigor as they embarked on what they hoped was a push toward the playoffs. So they were actually playing to form against the Panthers yesterday.

It was closer to the team that visited Denver on Thanksgiving night and played with such a lack of fire that you could have sworn they were sleepwalking during the 26-6 loss.

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On that night they had a chance to move into the NFC East lead. The players had the same zombie-like response that night, too. You wanted to chalk it up to too much Thanksgiving turkey. Now we know it's a lack of pride and heart.

"I think we're all saddened by that performance," said center Shaun O'Hara. "To have it happen on a day like today, which really was more than about one game, it was about history and respect, about the entire organization. ... As players we really let everyone down."